In speaking with some parents who are taking care of their children with ASD, one of insights I gained was hearing about their biggest fears. They aren’t only concerned about what will happen to their children once they are adults (and where there are fewer resources to help them – it’s like voila! Now that you’re eighteen, you’re on your own), but more importantly what will happen to their children once they have passed.

And that is perhaps the character Peter Yip’s greatest fear – who will take care of his daughter Laura when he eventually passes?

Laura is relatively high functioning, so perhaps in the end she may be able to care for herself, have a relationship, or at least live in some sort of co-living situation with relatives, roommates and so forth. But it doesn’t take away the grave concern that a parent has for their child whom they have cared for, for their entire life.

Which is why it seems to me that awareness amongst our communities is so critical. The more we know, the better able we are at incorporating them not only into our personal and social lives, but also our economy by *knowing* how to integrated them into our workplaces, to give them the opportunity to make a living, to make the most of their full potential. Because that is ultimately what any parent would hope for their children once they’ve passed.